‘Bottle Bomb’ Scare Back Again

Warnings about the threat of “bottle bombs,” crude explosives made with Drano or other household products, have been floating around for years in the form of small-town news reports and panicky e-mail chains forwarded by people’s paranoid aunts. This week, the NYPD sent out a “safety alert” to all 76 precincts alerting officers to keep an eye out for the devices, especially in the Rockaways, where gang members are said to be targeting cops. No actual local incidents have been reported recently, but as long as teenagers have access to YouTube, the dangerpersists.